Eagles Pick On LaGrange (Daily News-Record)

Daily News-Record - By Jeremy Cothran

BRIDGEWATER — When Josh Knight gets hungry on Saturdays, there’s little chance of finding him devouring a large pizza with the works or gorging himself on gas station subs.

He’d rather get his hands on a little pigskin, delivered made-to-order from rookie quarterbacks.

Bridgewater College’s senior cornerback intercepted two passes Saturday as the Eagles beat LaGrange 58-21 at Jopson Field in their final tune-up for the Old Dominion Athletic Conference football season.

Senior linebacker Craig Smith and junior corner Earl Chaptman also snatched passes for the Eagles’ defense, whose aggressive style created turnovers but also gave up big plays to the Panthers (0-4), a first-year varsity program.

Knight was particularly ferocious, dishing out plenty of trash-talk to LaGrange’s wide receivers and picking up a personal-foul penalty for arguing with a referee.

“The receivers were jawing all day, and I was just going to let them know they was going to catch no balls,” Knight, a former Harrisonburg High School star, said of his on-field chats. “I also told their quarterback to stop throwing to my side. ‘Quit throwing to me, or you’re going to pay for it.’

“And he did.”

After three weeks of seeing primarily run-oriented offenses, the Eagles’ secondary was salivating at the chance to face a passing offense. But its aggressiveness allowed the Panthers to hook up for two long scoring plays.

“If you look at it,” Smith said, “[the cornerbacks] were coming at passes with their hands out, trying to intercept it. They were getting a little pick-happy.”

It was evident on LaGrange’s first offensive series, in fact its very first play.

Panthers quarterback Brian Groover fired a quick out to receiver Erik Hardison, the ball barely missing the anticipatory hands of Chaptman. That allowed Hardison to scamper 53 yards to the Eagles’ 13. Chaptman redeemed himself three plays later with a leaping interception in the end zone.

“The margin of error on passing plays is zero,” Eagles coach Michael Clark said. “Some of the big plays they had, it was because we were being aggressive. We’re not going to be gun shy, though.”

The Panthers’ four turnovers helped set up advantageous field position for BC (4-0), which had no problems weaving in and around LaGrange’s defense. A healthy senior tailback Winston Young, making his first start since Sept. 2, rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. His battery mate, Phillip Carter, added 111 yards and a pair of scores to give the Eagles two 100-yard rushers for the first time this season.

Young said he is slowly starting to work his way back into form after bruising his ribs at McDaniel.

“I’m getting there,” Young said. “It’s not where I want to be yet, but yeah, definitely, there is a little bit of rust.”

Another factor for Young may be the flack jacket he’s wearing to protect his ribs. Because of his physical, between-the-tackles running style, Young is subjected to punishing hits as defenders try to stand him up and wait for tackling help.

“I try not to think of it,” he said of his protective armor. “It’s just a subconscious thing.”

The effective running game contributed to an efficient afternoon for junior quarterback Jeff Highfill, who finished a crisp 10-for-15 for 196 yards and two touchdowns. The Eagles utilized play-action on both of Highfill’s strikes, a 58-yard bomb to senior receiver Michael Oakes with 8:02 remaining in the first quarter and a perfectly feathered 22-yard pass to senior Warren Hedgepeth late in the third quarter.

Highfill also ran for a score – which he’s done in every game this season.

“I’m feeling more comfortable,” the Roanoke native said. “My goal is to get better every day and every game. Just keep improving. As the season goes on, as I get more time with the receivers, I can work on more stuff. It’s just natural as the season goes on that I’ll get better.”

The Eagles’ defense took it on the chin a bit in the second quarter – after BC had raced to a 30-0 lead – on two quick touchdown strikes by backup Panthers quarterback Koty Moorehead. The freshman got LaGrange on the board with a 20-yard pass to receiver Dustin Afman, who was wide open in the end zone thanks to blown coverage. Moorehead scored again with no time remaining before halftime when his 66-yard Hail Mary pass tipped off two Eagles defenders to freshman running back Mario Wallace.

Panthers coach Todd Mooney was pleased with the improvement his team showed Saturday. LaGrange had passed for only 193 yards in its first three contests, but outgained the Eagles 261-259 through the air at Jopson.

“We’ve just been focused on building on our success,” Mooney said. “We had some better things happen today.”

Once the game got out of hand, many of the Eagles’ backups got some much-needed playing time. Former Harrisonburg High School quarterback Nick Lincoln entered the game late in the third quarter and tossed two touchdowns. Clark said he also used the second team’s on-field time as a mini-audition for the nickel packages he will have to employ once BC opens play in the ODAC.

It all begins this week with “Championship Week,” the moniker Bridgewater has attached to its annual showdown with Hampden-Sydney. That was evident immediately after the game as the Eagles’ coaching staff immediately posted the week’s practice schedule after the game.

“This isn’t a normal week,” Clark said.